Here is Al Jazeera English's coverage of Bassam Ibrahim Abu Rahmah's funeral (warning: includes some very graphic video):
Notice how the report places Abu Rahmah's death in the context of an increasingly violent Israeli response to non-violent Palestinian protest. The US media has yet to cover this.
While it is true that the American press has begun to lament that the window of opportunity
is closing on the two-state solution, this is an important part of
that story. The protests in Bil'in, and the rest of the West Bank, are all aimed at trying to stop the ongoing Israeli colonization of Palestinian land. The more the media ignores these protests and the violent repression against them, the easier this process will be for Israel.
I'm not sure you want the US media to cover it do you? You don't care about honesty at all in your crusade to vilify Israel at any cost. If the media covers it Americans will largely have the attitude that if you play with fire you get burned. I work with two hundred guys if I relay the story without bias and emotion 199 of them will laugh. Nobody is going to condemn the border guards for doing their jobs against a bunch of provocateurs, Americans are not that stupid. They realize that the Arabs are pushing too far and the whole thing is a joke designed exactly so that people like you can feign outrage. Well you got what you wanted and I hope you are happy with yourself. Blogs like this created a demand for a man to throw his life away for nothing. It was his choice to break the law, but with the Shai Pollack film crews and the Mondoweiss yellow journalism the Arabs would have been better served trying to find something better to do than cause trouble and beg for handouts.
the american 'news' press is too busy being rich and well fed to care about justice and truth.
jews have been violent for centuries. nothing new. they buy the various media to cover it. refine it into 'jew victim; christian, muslim pure evil".
5ds
LeFavour (Chris it sounds like you?) makes a good point here. Non-violent civil disobediance is not necessarily non-violent when it is known before hand that state will use violence to suppress it.
This brings to mind a famous episode in non-violent protest in the US. The march from Selma to Birmingham led by MLK. This action represented a significant escalation on the part of King. Up to that time they obeyed local laws governing public demonstrations. This time they made a conscious decision to violate one of those laws. The state, represented by Bull Conner, were enraged (predictably so) and responded with extreme violence (also predictably). They defined this as an issue of law and order, which in fact it was in part. King was severely criticized by his liberal southern backers at the time. But the images that persisted was violent police reaction. The rest is history.
The Palestinians who wish to engage in non-violent protest face a similar dilemma. The Israelis are within their rights according to their laws and practices, to use whatever means needed to suppress these Palestinian protests (they are after all violating Israeli law). The bib question is will the NY Times put these demonstrations on their front page with graphic images as they did with King's demonstrations. If not, then Michael is correct, these brave Palestinian souls are just throwing their lives away for nothing.
any law the jews make up and they do so as they go, whatever is needed for their purposes, is invalid. cant violate an invalid law. it doesnt exist. only the force of violence exists. the palestinians and the iraqis(they are fighting israel's fool) are permitted to do as they choose and it is/will be legal, legitimate.
5ds
I wonder what criticism would be appropriate for the Zionists? None.
In any case, we should pay attention to LeFavour's comments.
His argument is that Israel is a person and we're all just making fun of him/her for no reason. Poor Israel – the person.
See, when you personify Israel – a State; a political entity – you can lower the intellectualism of the debate. It's like the phrase:
"Why you gotta be hatin' on Israel?"
It's infantile.
It's like saying people are obsessed with Israel (some other guy said that in another entry).
Now the rest of LeFavour's post is just plain lies and typical apologetics.
The protesters are on their land. All of the OT is Palestinian land.
In the US, we once use to hose Blacks during the era of discrimination and racial segregation. We overcame that vileness. The US was founded on Enlightenment values. Not perfect obviously, we still enslaved people and wiped out/were wiping out the indigenous population who lived on the land before us – among other things.
But over time, we dealt with these deep-seated racist/bigoted/all-around wrong policies.
People in our country go crazy over police brutality. Especially when it happens to minorities.
The notion that we'd stand w/ Israel – given the full knowledge of Israeli Jewish supremacy complex and the institutionalized racism in the society – is preposterous and pure hasbara.
The IDF or whoever are carrying out State policy. Not justice. Israeli State policy is often criminal and amoral.
So to say the Palestinians who protest Israeli criminality are provocateurs is very revealing of the Zionist project's intentions.
Those 'border guards' are crooks in uniform. They do not need provoking. They are criminals 24/7.
The Zionists simply want zero resistance in all forms. They prefer violent resistance to non-violent resistance because the former provides them the pretext to carry out their policies in full-force under the guise of security.
Good post, LD. You make a lot of sense when you get down off the chandelier. :-))))))
Things are going to get worse: "New York Post To Start Including News From the Jerusalem Post"
Why can't we have Al-Jazeera in this country? Because the Lobby killed it. Al-Jazeera available on every cable company roster is a necessity.
I know many here have found 5ds posts repugnant. Obviously, being a Jew, I'm not going to defend them wholeheartedly. But I'm not going to dismiss them out of hand. That's too easy. We Jews DO have a problem that goes far beyond AIPAC and the ADL and the JDL and Avigdor Leiberman. Every one horse town in the entire US has at least one Jewish Community Center. They're everywhere. And yet you can not find ONE which expresses full, unapologetic solidarity with the victims of Israeli violence. This is a gigantic moral failing on the part of Jews. We need to clean out our house. We need to purge our community of the frightful and disgusting disease of Jewish Nazism that has made inroads into almost every facet of jewish life. We need a basement to attic transformation. To say it is just a problem of the neo-cons or the Netanyahu government is a dangerous delusion.
MRW asks:
Why can't we have Al-Jazeera in this country?
Good question. I subscribed to an extended cable service with an expectation I could catch English Al Jazeeras. It wasn't there.
Are the zionist who control so much of our media afraid?
Does posing this question make me an antisemite? I certainly do not feel I am one. Why is Al Jazeera blocked?
Would that America and Israel merely blocked al jazeera's signals rather than deliberately and repeatedly blowing up their headquarters and shooting their journalists point blank…all of this, we are told "perfectly legal."
@ LD
"I wonder what criticism would be appropriate for the Zionists?"
Start with something legitimate and place it in context. There is much to criticize. The framework and appeasement, for examples.
"In any case, we should pay attention to LeFavour's comments."
Please do.
"His argument is that Israel is a person and we're all just making fun of him/her for no reason. Poor Israel – the person."
You have just erected a straw man…
"See, when you personify Israel – a State; a political entity – you can lower the intellectualism of the debate. It's like the phrase:
"Why you gotta be hatin' on Israel?"
And knocked it down…
"It's infantile."
And ripped the stuffing out of it…
"It's like saying people are obsessed with Israel (some other guy said that in another entry)."
You seem obsessed with straw and shadow boxing with imaginary opponents…
"Now the rest of LeFavour's post is just plain lies and typical apologetics."
Such as?
"The protesters are on their land. All of the OT is Palestinian land."
The criminal Arabs and the circus freak show "activists" with them are not on their land. Israel is in legal possession of the land and Israeli law applies.
"In the US, we once use to hose Blacks during the era of discrimination and racial segregation. We overcame that vileness."
In the Middle East Jews are still second class citizens dhimmis. In sharia compliant states Jews are not allowed to testify in court. In Saudi Arabia Jews are not even allowed in the country. In Gaza Jews are segregated from their heads and other limbs when found. According to the PLO Charter the land is for Arabs. In fact that document mentions the Arab race over 20 times, it is codified racism. Too bad your fake outrage is not directed at real racist bigots.
"The US was founded on Enlightenment values. Not perfect obviously, we still enslaved people and wiped out/were wiping out the indigenous population who lived on the land before us – among other things."
I am part Kiowa. I'm not wiped out. Nor did "we" wipe out the natives. Small Pox wiped out the natives and was destined to wipe out the natives whether natives arrived in Europe first or whether Europe arrived in the Americas first.
Using your same infantile logic…your argument is that America is a person and the person is bad, and does bad things for no reason, and I be hatin' on a bully…
"But over time, we dealt with these deep-seated racist/bigoted/all-around wrong policies."
The Quran contains deep-seated anti-Jewish bigotry, supremacism, and codified hatred of the other. How much longer would you speculate before these all round bad teachings are abrogated or ignored by modern enlightened Arabs?
"People in our country go crazy over police brutality. Especially when it happens to minorities."
People in Gaza go crazy with blood lust over police lynching. They especially love to dance around in the streets with the bloody intestines of hapless Jews that make wrong turns. They also like to show their humanity by taking a bite of the raw Jewish flesh for the cameras and the sheer ecstasy of it.
"The notion that we'd stand w/ Israel – given the full knowledge of Israeli Jewish supremacy complex and the institutionalized racism in the society – is preposterous and pure hasbara."
The notion that we would go along with Arab racism and genocidal bigotry codified in their founding documents and Charters and the supremacist ideology force fed their young at their places of worship glorifying suicide, death, and mass murder is preposterous and pure ignorant misunderstanding of the Americans living in the heart land of this nation.
"The IDF or whoever are carrying out State policy. Not justice. Israeli State policy is often criminal and amoral."
The illegal militias of Hamas or whoever is carrying out jihadist policy is always criminal and amoral. Torture, arbitrary killings, and political assassinations are routine for the thugs you admire so much.
"So to say the Palestinians who protest Israeli criminality are provocateurs is very revealing of the Zionist project's intentions."
I am not part of a project. But to side with criminal terrorists over a state under brutal attack for the basest of human motivations, Arab racism and Islamic bigotry is revealing of your nature and the nature of the enablers of this blog.
"Those 'border guards' are crooks in uniform. They do not need provoking. They are criminals 24/7."
The Arabs that infiltrate and hack, bludgeon, and shoot Jewish children to death in cold blood are justified in tearing Israel's defenses down though, huh? By implication, or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, I can't tell which, Jewish children don't deserve soldiers to keep them safe from your genocidal Arab friends. According to LG logic.
"The Zionists simply want zero resistance in all forms."
Now you are making sense. If I were a Jew I would want to be left alone too.
"They prefer violent resistance to non-violent resistance because the former provides them the pretext to carry out their policies in full-force under the guise of security."
Now you are drifting in and out of conscious again. Wipe the spittle off your lip. it is really bugging me, kid.
I take it back.
I'm NOT sorry the Israeli athletes were killed in Munich.
@ r
"I know many here have found 5ds posts repugnant. Obviously, being a Jew, I'm not going to defend them wholeheartedly. But I'm not going to dismiss them out of hand. That's too easy. We Jews DO have a problem that goes far beyond AIPAC and the ADL and the JDL and Avigdor Leiberman. Every one horse town in the entire US has at least one Jewish Community Center. They're everywhere. And yet you can not find ONE which expresses full, unapologetic solidarity with the victims of Israeli violence. This is a gigantic moral failing on the part of Jews. We need to clean out our house. We need to purge our community of the frightful and disgusting disease of Jewish Nazism that has made inroads into almost every facet of jewish life. We need a basement to attic transformation. To say it is just a problem of the neo-cons or the Netanyahu government is a dangerous delusion."
Unlike you Ms/Mr r…lol, most Jewish community center directors have rightly concluded that apologizing for Arab casualties would be like a rape victim apologizing to a rapist for scratching gouging one of his eyes out.
What the Jewish community needs to do is purge the frightful and disgusting disease of ignorance like yours that has made inroads into almost every facet of liberal Jewish life.
You must be suffering from Stockholm syndrome to equate Jews with Nazis. It cheapens the real horror of Nazism every time you sling it around on something it does not apply to or resemble in the remotest.
oh Michael…the mental patients from Massada2000 are lonely for you. You know, the laugh-out-loud nut cases you link on your OWN goofy hate site?
http://informationdominancecubed.blogspot.com/
(For Mondo Weiss-ers…don't miss the Iraqi soldier video, also posted there. Side splitting in its stupidity.)
"Chris aka Michael LeFavour is jew. All of what he says echoes standard spiel of the SS man back in the day. Despite the ovens, jews like "Chris Berel" admire the Nazi Germans; that's why they adore
Israel. With advances in cosmetic surgery, maybe one day they will be able to look Aryan. They do what they can, especially their women."
First, what do I have to do to get my own identity? I am not Chris, but if he writes like me he must be one of the few sane voices here.
The SS admired Muslims. In fact an Arab claiming to be a Palestinian, Amin Husseini, was a real good terms with the SS. He helped recruit Muslims for the cayse of totalitarianism. Nazism and Islam fit like a glove. The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar was a Muslim unit responsible for a lot of murder. When it was sent up against the Russians it got chewed to pieces.
I wonder why it is OK to make genuine anti-Semitic comments here? Why bother with a comments policy unless the blog shares these views?
Michael says:
The criminal Arabs and the circus freak show "activists" with them are not on their land. Israel is in legal possession of the land and Israeli law applies.
Actually he is correct here as far as Israeli law applies. So good people, do you support law and order or do you support insurrection. That is the issue.
What's the matter, Michael/Chris? Are you sad that NO ONE is visiting your crazy nut case blog?
You need some company—is that what you're doing here??
That's an AWESOME John McCain ad you've got over there. Wish WE had something like that to rally the troops!
C'mon everyone…join in
oh IM PROUD TO BE AN AMERIKKKANNNNNNN …WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW IM FREEEEE!!!
That is some CRAZY cornball shit you got going.
We love it!!
@ r
"You need some company—is that what you're doing here??"
Actually, I arrived here from trying to debate at Foreign Policy Watch, where the blog owners there are less childish, (if I wanted to engage the equivalent of a 9 year old's intellect I can get that on youtube). For some reason this site was mentioned as a source for something we were discussing. I think I browsed here once before and realized lifting this rock would reveal a bunch of squirming things trying to slither away from the light of truth if I did and decided it was not worth the effort. Time passed and I tried to engage Professor Robertson over at Chippshots for his ignorant views. He won't stand and fight, but I noticed he linked to this blog so I decided to kick this rock and see what crawls out. So far I am bored senseless, I can get better than this level of proficiency at dozens of sites that don't even specialize on the Israel Arab conflict. Before I posted I actually read the "READ BEFORE POSTING" section. I was very hopeful when I read the opening line…but after the ad hominems, childish insults, open anti-Semitism, and monolithic ignorance I am wanting my money back on the offer below…
"One of the goals of this site is to promote critical discussion and debate on US foreign policy and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We want Mondoweiss to be a place that everyone feels comfortable visiting, to read and comment, regardless of political perspective."
THE VOICE OF REALITY
"In every generation, there are always a few who understand.
Always understand… even if you remain among the few." Rabbi Meir Kahane
Cited approvingly on your "blog"
Kahane's right, Michael. You DO remain among the few. They're called dangerous psychotics.
(but the "Letter to Mr. Obama" WAS breathtakingly funny, so thanks again for that)
For those who read this above and think it might be true historically. It ain't. If you think it's supposed to make sense, it doesn't. This is a brilliant example of a Grade One 'Dick and Jane' effort at propaganda the writer doesn't think you'll bother to verify.
The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar was Croatian, and operated during WWII. Hajj Amin Al Husseini was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, son of the Mufti of Jerusalem in the Ottoman Empire, and took over in 1922.
You get the pic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Waffen_Mountain_Division_of_the_SS_Handschar_(1st_Croatian)
link to palestinefacts.org
Michael LeFavour said:
Start with something legitimate and place it in context. There is much to criticize. The framework and appeasement, for examples.
—
Your original post was aimed at Phil – whom you said was 'vilifying' Israel. You did not provide a counterargument but rather, a vague characterization of an entire blog of views.
There is plenty of arguments here that range from insane to sane and nuanced to simplistic. Etc. etc.
It's easy to dismiss it all though. Which is what you did. I don't think it matters though, you'll still post here and reply to our actual opinions in any case. So what purpose did your comment serve then?
Michael LeFavour said:
You have just erected a straw man…
—
No. I was paraphrasing YOUR straw man. You characterize criticism of Israel in the same way someone would characterize criticism of a person.
You are personifying a State. A political entity. It's like someone else who said in another thread – that people on this site are 'obsessed' with Israel.
Personifying Israel makes it…personal. It makes it seem like Israel – a vast political entity – is a person getting their feelings hurt. Poor Israel, stop vilifying it! Can't you see she's a human being!
You're like Chris Crocker or Glenn Beck.
Infantile.
Why? Because people devote their lives to a State. Working for it – fighting for it – fighting against it – etc.
You're jumping into a pool and complaining you got wet.
Expect all sorts of criticism. Often, when a State behaves like a criminal entity, it gets lots of attention. So it might be – just might be – that the Israeli State is justly criticized.
There is no rule-book that defines how to criticize Israel (Ironically there is such a thing as a Hasbara Handbook that is passed out by the World Union of Jewish Students).
And that's just it. It's not about a principle.
It's not about one standard for all – for you. It's about one standard for Israel and one for everyone else.
Michael LeFavour said:
The criminal Arabs and the circus freak show "activists" with them are not on their land. Israel is in legal possession of the land and Israeli law applies.
—
You say Israel is in legal possession of the land and Israeli law applies. But the way you say it implies some other body of law agrees with Israel AND THEN Israeli law applies.
But it's just Israel that made this decision.
Israel defines it's own legality.
So it's not about justice. It's not about right or wrong. It's about policy.
If the US deemed it legally ok for us to go to Iraq and begin colonizing the land for America – it too would be "legal" according to US "law".
But it would not be just. It would not be moral. it would not be right by ANY standard other than legal spittle.
You conveniently use Israeli law to justify your own amoral tendencies and perspective. This is exactly what "those Arabs" (your conflation, not mine; your racism, not mine) do as well.
They make a law and then say it's ok because it's law.
It's like saying God exists because "the Bible said so." Well who wrote the Bible? God. So God exists. God exists because he said so.
You claim Israeli law is legitimate because it said so. You are weak. Just as weak as those who persecute other peoples based on arbitrary/unjustified "law".
Michael LeFavour said:
I am part Kiowa. I'm not wiped out. Nor did "we" wipe out the natives. Small Pox wiped out the natives and was destined to wipe out the natives whether natives arrived in Europe first or whether Europe arrived in the Americas first.
Using your same infantile logic…your argument is that America is a person and the person is bad, and does bad things for no reason, and I be hatin' on a bully…
—
It's funny, you agree that your original comment about vilifying was indeed a straw man. But the difference between what I said, and what you said, is that I explained myself.
How many Native Americans are alive today? How many died? How well do they live now? Where do they live now? How much did they lose?
Was the American STATE ever serious about all those "peace treaties"?
The colonists wiped them out. Small pox helped out a lot though. No genocide is absolutely perfect. I think everyone knew what I meant. You took it literally because your main argument is weak.
Semantics.
Michael LeFavour said:
The Quran contains deep-seated anti-Jewish bigotry, supremacism, and codified hatred of the other. How much longer would you speculate before these all round bad teachings are abrogated or ignored by modern enlightened Arabs?
—
You change the subject to Islamo-blah blah. All these 3 religions are crazy and old. Juxtaposing their sayings to the modern era is easy to do and scores points with the ignorant and lazy.
I would refer everyone here to the 'Hasbara Handbook: Promoting Israel on Campus' (World Jewish Union of Students or World Union of Jewish Students). Specifically look for "point scoring". Google all of this.
Religious blah blah is another issue. You are conflating all Arabs with this religious extremism. You are simplifying the religion without taking into account that most people pick and choose from their religion as it becomes more and more obsolete to them.
This is you straw manning and vaguely generalizing.
Michael LeFavour said:
People in Gaza go crazy with blood lust over police lynching. They especially love to dance around in the streets with the bloody intestines of hapless Jews that make wrong turns. They also like to show their humanity by taking a bite of the raw Jewish flesh for the cameras and the sheer ecstasy of it.
—
You must have written for Der Stürmer in another life.